


Academia

by moralix



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26110762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moralix/pseuds/moralix





	Academia

Avam removed the last alloy disk from the terminal attached to his ear, and put it in his cloak pocket with the other four. He folded the metallic contraption he used to read them, set it in a different pocket, and breathed out in relief.

_ I can't believe I made it. _

This one had been the last archival room he needed to visit tonight. It was time to leave, he thought before the view from the corridor distracted him. The place was built with outside walkways, and this side showed his favorite part of the city. 

The city was formed of two main rings: the original buildings made of stone and metal, and the newer Flora houses most people lived in now. Avam loved this new outer ring. It looked like a fair had set up permanent camp in a forest, illuminated by glowing orange lichen that only grew in the Academia greenhouses, every house made of trees, vines or other living structures. These houses would never need any outside electricity or sanitation, and the streets produced most of the food they needed. 

There had been talk of demolishing the older structures that housed the schools, laboratories and council chambers, but it seemed a waste after they'd withstood centuries of sun, rain, erosion and outside attack. They were old, but still full of power. Not that they’d needed defending themselves anymore, no one would dare attack the biggest organized group of practitioners in the world. No one would be that stupid .  _ Except us. _

In his mind’s eye, he saw himself from the outside for an instant.

He took a deep breath and leaned on the railing. Stupidly, he felt a pang of guilt. Even if the organization had betrayed every ideal they claimed to uphold, he felt bad about working against it. These were still the people who brought most technological advancements to society. He absently felt for the memory disks again.

The Academia had been founded by practitioners to help --and keep an eye on-- each other. In time it had become a city that attracted engineers, philosophers, even traders and bureaucrats from all over, which had allowed them to find new ways to use their talents and gain even more power. It was now a politically unaligned entity that had its tendrils in every nation’s upper ranks, not only from sheer power but also by controlling the flow of information.

Observers like Hadi could perform their functions without need for anyone else and were among the first kinds of Practitioner discovered, but Avam’s power was completely useless without the contraption he now carried in his cloak. Hell, he never would've  _ known  _ he had such power if it wasn't for the Academia engineers. Sixty years ago, they had developed the reader that allowed people with magnetic powers to store and retrieve data in metal alloys. Now dozens of Informers ran archive centers in every nation, common and harmless enough to be overlooked. It was what had made him ideal for the job. No one in the building gave him a second glance.

Again, he saw an image of himself seen from the street, and then an older image, a memory of Hadi swatting his head days ago. Now he realized the first time was an actual message from Hadi. His arms were starting to feel numb from leaning on them. How long  _ had _ he stood there like an idiot?

_ Right, right. Have to go. _ Hadi was acting as lookout, reinforcement, and in her words, “to keep the damn boy on task”. He was proving her right and wasn’t looking forward to her reminding him. He smiled at the thought. 

As he went down the stairs he got another image from her, the wagon they’d brought stationed in an alley around the corner. A view from afar. It was the agreed upon signal for him to go on without her. Did that mean there was trouble? He wished he could read and put thoughts on people’s minds like her, instead of just disks, but then he wouldn’t have been here in the first place. He could only listen and obey. 

He hoped Hadi found another way out, but they both knew his cargo was more important than either of them. She’d leave him to die if it meant getting those codes to the Circle. Avam reached the vehicle, pulled out a different disk, this one smaller, and pressed it to the wagon's control plate. He didn't input a destination. Instead, he put his hand on the plate and guided it himself. The red nightlights came to life, and the wheels started turning. He ventured a last glance behind, but Hadi didn't appear. He’d leave her out to die for their mission as well.

_ Would you? _

He ground his teeth and upped the speed of the wagon.

\--

From a nearby building, Hadi saw the wagon leave with a safe Avam and breathed out in relief. His mission was complete, and didn't need to know hers was different. She and Frand agreed he should stay innocent in this. He would be good for the new world. After all, the current one wouldn't be the shitshow it currently was if it was ruled by people like him. 

_ Good fortune, kid.  _ She thought, and wished she could send an actual sendoff message. She usually accepted the limitations of her powers, but tonight she hated them. 

She could send him an image of the Academia, to accompany him in his journey. But he would definitely interpret that as a call for help-- or worse, recognize it as the farewell it was-- and turn back. And it was imperative that he didn’t, she thought as she pulled out the device they'd prepared for her and pulled the safety to start the detonation process. 

The little bronze ball was unstable, just like the Temperature powers it carried. Mental practitioners could control their fields with remarkable precision, but physical powers were, by their own nature, hard to guide. The members of the Circle had decided on a temperature attack because the range was precise and their effects temporary, even if the device overshot the temperature. It could also undershoot and cause an hour of cold weather at most, which was why armies tended to buy Tremor weapons instead, which had stable effectiveness and variable range. The fact that when their overshot they killed entire cities seemed a reasonable price to them, and that made Hadi’s insides twist. Unlike Avam, she had no qualms about betraying an organization that would make those weapons, let alone sell them.

She kept counting the remaining seconds to achieve the desired range. Pressing it immediately would only burn her, maybe the room if she was lucky. As the time approached, she dared to hope.  _ Maybe this will work,  _ she thought.  _ Maybe all our plans will be for nothing, and only this place will have to die _ . When the count was over, she went to push the button.

Except she couldn’t move anymore. She’d lost control of her hand and half her arm. Another Observer had seen her, a powerful one.

_ Shit.  _ Hadi opened her eyes abruptly, looking around. She saw nothing, but still knew they were there. She managed to sound calm as she spoke.

"Fine, you got me. What now?" 

Now that she'd detected it, she could feel the second Observer holding her hand still, trying to probe her thoughts. She rolled her eyes.

“Now that’s just insulting. We both know that won’t work.”

"What are you  _ doing _ ? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

_ Shit! _ She knew who it was even before she walked out into the light. Also in her forties, Anyal wore her favorite scarf over her black practitioner cloak and her hair in a bun. Her narrow brown eyes were framed by laugh lines, but she looked upset. And beautiful. Hadi cursed under her breath. It had to be her, of all people. 

“I wasn’t trying to kill myself. I was trying to kill all of you, it just happens that I have to be here for it.”

“But why?”

Any other Observer would have simply alerted the council, or if they were powerful enough, killed her on the spot. She told herself she answered to distract her, and not because Anyal’s opinion mattered to her.

“Because you-  _ we _ need to be stopped. We’re supposed to keep the balance, and last time I checked getting involved in the war isn’t part of it.”

“I know that! But if the rogues are selling their knowledge to one side,  _ fighting _ for them, are we supposed to just stand by?”

Hadi lowered her gaze. It had worked like a charm, but she still felt bad about it. She reset the counter. Anyal took another step forward.

“Do you think it’s wrong to fight them? Do you think Haag, Guillem and Polsit should let it happen? Do you think  _ Juni’s  _ death was for nothing?”

There it was.  _ And now you have to say it. _

"Juni is alive." she whispered.

" _ What? _ "

_ Now,  _ she thought, feeling her hand free to move again. She started the counter again. She replied: 

"He's not dead. He joined them. With permission from the council."

Anyal gasped as if she’d been struck.

“Guillem has been letting the weapons storage be raided, and Juni has been trading them to the rogues. Then they go and sell more to the nations the rogues attack.”

“Why?” her voice was pained. Hadi hated herself more now than when she was detonating a bomb. She shrugged. 

"Promise me you're not lying."

_ She didn’t accuse you. She trusts you, _ she thought. 

"I don't have to. You only need to look in my mind. Go ahead."

Anyal breathed in and out, and then concentrated. Hadi put great care to think about what they knew of Juni, and nothing more. After a long moment, Anyal spoke again. Her voice was hoarse.

"What do you want to do? I’ll help you."

Hadi held her gaze for a long moment. The moment to detonate was approaching rapidly again. But she knew if she used a shorter range... not everyone from the Academia had to die, killing the council would give them enough time to disband the operation, put reasonable people in their place. And looking at Anyal, thinking about Avam, the students and unpowered inhabitants, she realized she wanted to try.  _ You’re as bad as the boy _ . She pulled the safety back on. 

"Can you get me to the lower levels?" 

Anyal went pale, understanding, but nodded. "I have clearance for tonight. Come with me."

\--

As they descended into the oldest part of the city, the cave systems that the early practitioners had carved with their powers, Anyal found herself shaking.  _ Juni's alive,  _ she thought in disbelief. And then,  _ Juni's a traitor. _

That was enough for her to want to burn the place to the ground, but she wouldn’t actually do it. It was hard to imagine Hadi, who hadn't been as close to him and was more level-headed, would do this in a fit of passion. This was a planned move, one that had at least two more people involved that she’d seen in Hadi’s memories. Old, respectable Academia members. She wanted to ask more questions, but they didn’t have time. And in a few minutes knowing wouldn’t matter.

There was always intrigue and power play inside the Academia, but nothing as big. She was supposed to be a line of defense against things like these, that was why Observers were planted all around the Academia and every other important settlement in the world. Their spy network was an open secret, there to stop wars before they even began.  _ But we haven’t, not for years. Conflicts  _ have  _ been escalating lately. And apparently we’ve been profiting from them.  _ Anyal was too shaken to guard her thoughts at the moment. She glanced at Hadi, who politely pretended not to be listening. 

They reached the door that led to the central quarters, heavy and gleaming with the numerous metallic runes that protected it. Anyal put her left palm against it and concentrated on the codes that would unlock it. Hadi’s voice interrupted her.

“As soon as the door is open, run upstairs.”

“What? No! I-”

“That wasn’t a question.”

Anyal just smiled, and her friend rolled her eyes. She put up her mental walls again, and started feeding the code into the door.

Halfway through the input process, an image appeared in her mind. Before she had time to process it she heard a strangled gasp, and then a body collapsing to the ground. She let out a yelp and knelt down beside her. Hadi had fallen on her face, not even raising her arms to protect it. Anyal turned her around, and realized she wasn’t moving. She wasn’t  _ breathing _ . Hadi’s eyes darted around and landed on Anyal’s. Again, the same image flashed into her mind. It was Hadi’s memory of her standing outside, where she’d found her. Then Hadi’s face turned sharply to the side with a loud  _ CRACK _ , her neck snapping. 

Anyal screamed.

The golden doors opened.

Polsit was on the other side. The head of the council looked exhausted, sweat droplets in their forehead. They grabbed the door for support.

“I almost thought I wouldn’t make it”, they gasped. “Are you alright?”

“I… you did this?”

“It was the only way to stop her. I didn’t want to hurt you, and you were about to open the door at her command. I knew they were powerful, but influencing a high-ranking Observer is more than I could anticipate.”

_ What? _

“You mean, everything she told me… but I looked into her memories! She couldn’t have been influencing me!”

“I didn’t mean you.”

She shook her head. That wasn’t possible.  _ But there’s always been intrigue and power play in the Academia.  _ She looked at Hadi’s corpse. Polsit did too, looking remorseful.

“I think they convinced her and a handful of others that they needed to kill us. How they managed to get as many and as powerful, I have no clue.”

_ The rogues. _

“The rogues?” she asked. Polsit nodded.

“I’ve been trying to catch them, but they’re too careful. Do you know if she had anyone with her? I can send people to get them.”

“Will you…”

“Oh! No. We wouldn’t need this extreme a measure. Are you sure you’re alright? Maybe we should discuss this in the morning.”

Anyal got up now. The world seemed right again.  _ There’s no way everything she said was true. _

“There’s no way…. the council isn’t…”

“War profiteering? We have everything we need, we’re the most technologically advanced city in the entire world. Why would we even do it?”

Why come up with something so elaborate anyway? How could they convince Hadi of this? she thought. No one other than Polsit themself could have defeated her. Who could have deceived her like this?

“Anyal?”

_ She didn’t want to blow up the weapons storage. That’s why she wanted me to get her here.  _ It made horrible sense. And yet…. 

She realized she trusted Hadi. Not only her intentions, but her abilities as well. She wasn’t wrong.  _ No. It can’t be true. _

That last thought…  _ Oh no. _

She had a split second to put her walls back up before the overwhelming force of Polsit’s attack hit her. She tried to freeze them up the way she’d done with Hadi, but she might have been throwing cotton balls at a wall. She scrambled away, in her panic stumbling on Hadi’s corpse. Polsit took advantage of the distraction and her muscles seized up. She landed right beside her. 

_ Stupid, stupid, stupid! _ Was Polsit putting actual thoughts into her? That hadn’t felt like any Observer communication, but most of her thoughts the last minute hadn’t been hers, she realized it now.  _ Can anyone even do that? _

“I was hoping not to have to kill you, we need all the Observers we can get. Maybe we can still reach an agreement?”

She wondered if they were actually recruiting her, or just too tired from fighting Hadi.

“You could be reunited with Juni, now that you know. He didn’t think you could be convinced by the same things he was, but it’s different now, isn’t it? You can see him again.” 

Anyal looked up, surprised. She hadn’t realized that was possible. She would’ve died for Juni, would’ve killed for him. But she hadn’t known who he was, not really. Then she looked at Hadi. Ruthless, loyal Hadi. Dead because Polsit would sell the world for profit, and Juni would take his cut.

“I’d rather die”, she growled, “I’d rather  _ you  _ died.”

The paralysis reached her chest. Her head had frozen looking at her friend. She idly wondered what was it like to die like she had, but Polsit seemed content waiting for her to suffocate instead. It was already hard to think. An hour ago, her husband was dead, and her life made sense. An hour ago, Hadi had been trying to…

_ The image she sent. That’s what she wanted to say. _

Her training came back in an instant. She quickly put the thought aside to avoid detection, focusing in her body instead. Polsit had approached her, looking at her in apparent regret. Not close enough. She dropped her walls even further, hoping he hadn’t recovered the energy to finish her off instantly. Her whole body, even her eyelids, stopped moving. She resisted the urge to fight back, and kept focusing on her legs.

They took a final step towards her. Anyal gathered the last of her focus, and in one painful surge she released her right leg and  _ kicked.  _ She caught them in the shin.

It was enough. They lost concentration, and Anyal lunged for Hadi’s corpse, grabbed the incendiary, and pulled the safety pin out. No time to wait for it to load, she thought, and pushed the button.

_ I love you, Juni. And fuck you. _

\--

Avam reached the Circle headquarters six hours later. He’d abandoned the wagon, boarded an air transport at the nearest city, dozed off in it for three hours, and drove the last two into the wilderness in an unpowered vehicle.  _ She’s got to be here,  _ he thought.  _ She has to. _

He was received -and examined for his identity by an Observer- at the door to the complex. Once inside the perimeter, the enormous Flora palace was visible to his eyes. It was a marvel in engineering, made of six sequoias grown to full height in a year. The gilders had intertwined protective runes within the trunk, careful not to disturb the equilibrium of the living structure. Various terminals were built into it, ready to receive and rebroadcast the information he’d brought. That would allow every physical practitioner in the radius to work in concert. It was a variation of an existing design, but this one had been built to not only last, but evolve according to their needs. It also had receivers, not unlike the technique Hadi and the other observers used, for ease of communication. _ Oh, right. _

“Where’s Hadi?” he asked his guide. The young woman sighed.

“She had a partial success, from what we can gather. Only one member of the council. But I think if she had the choice she’d do it anyway, you know?” she finished with what she thought was a comforting smile. He froze.

“What?”

The girl widened her eyes in realization.

“Oh! You didn’t… I’m so sorry!”

_ No. No no no. _

“Where’s Frand?”

\--

Hours later, Avam was nursing a cup of tea, looking out to the endless fields of broken land. Four years ago this had been a battlefield, and the scenery beyond the tower showed the dangers of modern warfare. Thousands upon thousands of people had been buried in their own homes, or by collapsing hills in the fields. They had picked this location because no one came near it anymore, but also as a reminder of why they’d started the Circle in the first place. Practitioner power had been sacred, their order draconian in their restrictions to both Academia members and rogue elements. They’d sworn to never forget that anymore.

_ Hadi is gone.  _

He rubbed his eyes, still red from crying. He’d managed to forget for almost two minutes now. Frand, one of the founding members and partner of both, had briefed him on what happened. On what she’d done. She was right, he wouldn’t have left without her if he’d known. But it still hurt. It was better not to think about it. It was impossible not to think about it.

“I could have helped”, he whined. 

“She wanted you to stay alive. We both did.”

“We needed her! I needed her, and I know you do too.”

Frand didn’t contradict him. Instead he replied:

“The Circle was conceived as a way to preserve humanity in the face of extinction. But she wanted to prevent it happening in the first place. She knew she’d have to become a murderer, but weighed the lives of everyone else and thought it was a good deal. She knew you joined to build things, not destroy them. And… she wanted us to be around for each other.”

“That was selfish of both of you. I could’ve been there for her instead of staying with you.” He immediately regretted saying it, especially because Frand never punched back.

“We were. But we didn’t want that burden on your shoulders.”

“Maybe  _ I  _ want it. Let me go back. I’ll finish the job.”

Frand shook their head. “They’ll be more alert from now on. I doubt any of us can ever return there, and I wouldn’t rule out an attack if they find this place. We’ll never get another chance like that.”

“Then it was for nothing.” It was unfair to her. But it was unfair that she’d left him. He wanted to stop thinking about it, to forget. But Frand grounded him, damn them.

“She did buy us time. Polsit was head of spies, and when we kill Juni they won’t be as fast moving the weapons anymore. We’ll finish this preserve well before the planet is unsustainable.”

It made sense. She’d given them precious time.  _ What am I gonna do without her? _ , he thought, but instead said:

“What do we do now?”

“We do what we’re supposed to do. Make the world better.”

That was something they all agreed on. And she always told him to stay on task. He sighed.

“I can do that.”


End file.
